Set against the Queen’s visit in 1954 acclaimed playwright Jane Harrison has penned a tender and funny telling of one family’s struggle for community acceptance in the Menzies era of Australia.
Three generations of the Dear family from the Yorta Yorta tribe live together in a ramshackle shack on the Goulburn river flats.
Gladys yearns for a better life, a real home and a decent job. Her teenage Dolly has dreams of becoming a nurse, while her resilient grandmother, Nan Dears, is resistant to change. Dolly falls for Errol, a travelling salesman whose offer of another world sees their lives take an unexpected turn.
This was a very fine production by Liza-Maree Byron of Harrison’s moving play. The world is well created in the set design depicting a shanty in the outback surrounded by a dark backdrop with large posts for trees. There was a sense of foreboding coming from the bush.
Performances were good. The closeness of the indigenous family came through deeply. Lily Shearer played grandmother Nan Dear, a firmly willed character who is a bit shaken by the changes taking place around her. She playfully quizzes Errol as to whether there is any reference to Aborigines in the Encyclopedia
Dalara Williams played Gladys the strongest of all the characters and the most ardent in trying to get more rights for Aborigines. She makes a deeply moving speech towards the end of the play about wanting to increase Aboriginal rights.
Phoebe Grainer was excellent as young Dolly who had just completed her Leaving Certificate and was full of zest for life. Her performance was very charming as was her romance with Errol, the gangly salesman who frequently comes to the house flogging Encyclopedia Britannicas which Gladys agrees to purchase. Errol is played with great lightness of touch by Lincoln Vickery.
Frederick Copperwaite deftly plays a rich assortment of other characters including Leon, a bank manager, a police officer, a rent collector, a Chairman Of The Board, and an Inspector.
Recommended, RAINBOW’S END is playing the Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton Street, Darlinghurst until Sunday September 1, 2019.
http://www,darlinghursttheatre.com